I wonder if those website were shopify plus. I think shopify plus have more access to checkout customization and can do that. I can’t afford $2000 a month for plus. So i will have to wait until someone complains to Tobias and then something is done about this.
CAUSE:
The current default estimated tax is based on your store’s default location, which is a big issue if you sell internationally and only have local tax.
(Shopify still had this problem on 2023-03-15)
SOLUTION:
Create a Virtual Postal Mailbox Address anywhere you have a 0% tax:
-
Go to Settings => Locations => Add location
- Add the location newly created from
-
Go to Settings => Locations => Change default location
- Modify the default location to the one just added
NOTE:
This solution might not be for everyone. We sell software on our side, so it did not cause any issues.
Multiple companies are offering virtual mailboxes. On our side we chose “AnyTime MailBox” and created our address in Silicon Valley because we are a tech company, so why not!
PS: Sorry if you see this answer spammed in a few topics. Since many people have this problem and those topics do not have any solution, I am sure some people will appreciate it.
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You still have to charge tax for software you license to people in your state/country; I don’t know how this would be a solution
My country’s taxes are still applied correctly.
The problem is not that the tax is not working. The problem is my country’s estimated tax are shown to people outside of my country by default until they press the “continue to payment” button.
When 95% of your customers do not have to pay taxes, you don’t want to show them a 15% tax by default.
Interesting solution, I might try this with our store and see if it works. It sounds like you’re in a similar situation to us, we’re located in Canada but 90% or more of our orders go to the US where we don’t charge taxes.
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Shopify team: This problem is terribly and urgently in need of solving!!!
Many customers are dropping out of the checkout process because this “estimated tax” line item (which shows before they’ve even put in their shipping address!) INCORRECTLY makes them think they’re going to be charged more tax than they will.
This is a red-flag problem because it’s very directly contributing to lost potential customers for thousands of stores!
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100% agree with Daniel-Peich. Clearly there are hundred of people trying to solve this conundrum. Should really be a quick fix for the technical team at Shopify.
SHOPIFY, PULL YOUR FINGER OUT!
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We’ve been dealing with this for months and there’s no end in sight. So we did what was suggested in a previous reply. We ship from Canada, so we set up an anytime mailbox in Montana. Fulfillment is still set up to ship from our manufacturer here though. Seems to be working for us.
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Shopify really need to address this issue. Have anyone found a solution for Shopify not to estimate a tax in the early checkout phase without setting up a mailbox abroad?
There are many posts on this forum and elsewhere complaining about estimated taxes at Check Out. Invariably, a Shopify staff member says they will take the feedback on board and discuss it with the team that writes the code and the policies for checkout. So, after many years, what has Shopify done with this feedback? And what is it going to do to resolve the problem. If Shopify really thinks it has the best approach, please listen and understand that you do not. I use Shopify markets for two international markets I trade in. I am tax registered in both markets. However, ESTIMATED TAXES AT CHECKOUT, always defaults to the market where my store is based. This is so wrong on a “markets” approach. The checkout shouldn’t be estimating taxes at all for a given market. As shipping is not required for software delivered electronically, Shopify shouldn’t wait for the next page to confirm taxes. If, in a different scenario, one was to use markets to include GST/VAT in the product price, I am guessing it would not estimate taxes at checkout but would get the taxation amount correct by market? But that’s not how people in my markets shop. If there is one reason, above any or all others, to leave Shopify for another platform, it would be this. So what is Shopify going to do to remedy this?
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So, given I am using Shopify markets, I decided to run an experiment. I painstaking added in Tax Included into each product price, by shopify market. All good until you get to the checkout page. Now at checkout if I shop in say NZD$ the price comes up GST included at 15% which is great. And then I get to checkout and HOORAY, it no longer says “estimated taxes”. But instead, what it does give me is the total price in NZD and shows taxes included as a dollar amount incorrectly at 10% (assuming I am in Australia and shopping in AUD when I am shopping in NZD) instead of the 15% GST which is the applicable tax rate in NZ and included in the price. What is wrong with Shopify???